Part IV Project Management System

#1: A Humanoid Platform and Human Robot Interaction Framework for Deaf and Deaf-Blind Communication with the American Sign Language [Preallocated]

Allocated

To communicate, the millions of people living with deafblindess use the tactile American Sign Language (t-ASL). To provide DeafBlind (DB) individuals with a means of using their primary communication language without the use of an interpreter, a new assistive technology is needed that will be able to promote their autonomy. This project will focus on the design and development of ... Read more

Biomechatronics Mechatronics Medical Devices Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#2: On the Development of Tethered, Modular, Reconfigurable, Aerial Robotic Vehicles [Preallocated]

Allocated

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are quickly becoming the future of payload delivery. Over the past few years, several designs have surfaced with a variety of different solutions to this problem. Current systems are often bulky and designed for a specific purpose. This makes them difficult to adapt to new environments, payloads, or application domains. This project will build upon previous ... Read more

Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#3: [CDP-ECSE] Reinforcement Learning Based Control for Dexterous Robotic Manipulation

Allocated

This project is a cross-departmental project seeking to develop a Reinforcement Learning (RL) based control system for the grasping of objects. RL is a part of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which seeks to enable robots to autonomously learn to perform tasks without human interaction or guidance. Through RL a robot learns to perform actions based on observations of its environment through ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#4: On Ultra-Flexible Robotic Manipulation Systems for Industrial Assembly

Allocated

The goal of this project is to develop an ultraflexible robotic manipulation system for the Manufacturing Track of the Robotic Grasping and Manipulation Competition of IEEE ICRA 2023 (www.icra2023.org) and IEEE IROS 2023 (www.ieee-iros.org) that involves the execution of complex industrial assembly tasks. The goal of the robotic grasping and manipulation competition is to test the capabilities of a complete ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#6: A convolutional neural network for detecting visual texture [Preallocated]

Allocated

Humans can easily discriminate visual textures (eg., at a glance you can easily locate, visually, the boundary between the tiled kitchen floor and the carpeted living room floor). Computers can be programmed to identify the boundary between visual textures in an image. Visual texture perception supports and enables a range of behaviours, whether human or robotic, such as reaching and ... Read more

Biomechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#7: A convolutional neural network that extracts depth from images [Preallocated]

Allocated

Humans and computers can extract depth information from “stereograms”. A stereogram is comprised of a pair of images of an object; each stereogram image is taken from a slightly different point of view (eg., a human’s eyes provide two slightly different views of an object to the brain, where a biological neural network extracts depth information). Depth information supports and ... Read more

Biomechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#8: [Industry Sponsored][Confidential] Stem assembly (O-ring fitting) automation system [Preallocated]

Allocated

Oasis Engineering (https://www.oasisengineering.co.nz/oasis_home), based in Tauranga, New Zealand, is a world-leading supplier of valves and couplings for the compressed natural gas application solution. They are well-known in New Zealand as a specialist in producing close-tolerance machined parts in difficult materials such as stainless steel and titanium. Though they have state-of-the-art factories in New Zealand for machining, they still trust ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#9: ABB Robotic Arm 3D printing for Repair [Preallocated]

Allocated

Motivation: The repair of complex failures and damages of remote underground water distribution piping results in large disruptions, safety hazards and costs. This work will investigate the use of Robotic Arm and 3D printing technology to mitigate these challenges. Prior Work: Prior work has been conducted to equip the CAMMD IRB1200 ABB robot with a standard 3D Printing ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#10: Upcycling of Thermoset polymer waste product through 3D printing [Preallocated]

Allocated

Motivation: Thermoset polymers are difficult to recycle. Prior Work: Recycling/Upcycling of thermoplastic polymer is well established and there are commercial products that can shred, grind and melt waste product into filament for extrusion 3D printing. Project Aim: Investigate techniques to upcycle thermoset waste material using 3D printing. Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#11: 3D Printing for wearable technology [Preallocated]

Allocated

Motivation: The inability for user dependent wearables (e.g.orthotics, prosthetics and PPE) to adapt to changes at the human-product interface results in locations of high pressure which with prolonged exposure results in pain, ulceration and death. This product limitation is also associated with high medical costs – temporary solutions, medications and hospitalizations. Prior Work: Prior work has been conducted ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#12: Food 3D printing for customized nutrition

Allocated

Motivation: Malnourishment of the elderly is a major issue within New Zealand due to the common inability to eat traditional foods. Alternative foods are unappealing pureed or paste like substitutes for nutrition. This solution is unappetising and does not provide the nutrition required by immunocompromised consumers. This issue can be directly linked to the deterioration and even death of ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Smart Materials and Microtechnologies

Mechanical Engineering

#13: Investigating mechanical design of medical devices to be used in developing countries [Preallocated]

Allocated

Much of the international design and development resources that are channelled into medical devices are aimed at application in the developed world. As a result the healthcare systems of developing countries often end up receiving donated or new (when they can afford them) medical devices that are inappropriate for their setting. This project will survey and summarise the literature regarding ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Medical Devices

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#14: Investigating effective CAD teaching: fun and foundations

Allocated

Learning to use 3D CAD software is a mandatory part of most junior engineers’ training, and it is a polarising topic of study. Full of potential for creativity, but also frustration! Some love it, some just try to get through it. This research project will investigate the topic of teaching CAD to beginners, drawing from the latest ideas in education. ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#15: Sequentialization of Nodal designs for 3D printing to increase assembly efficiency [Preallocated]

Allocated

Motivation: Auckland(NZ) infrastructure is in dire conditions where housing, transport and local services are unable to adequately supply for the growing population. In part this is due to current limitations in the construction industry’s dependency on skilled labour. Prior Work: Algorithms to automatically produce ‘variable node’ truss structures have been created. These have potential to redefine construction with ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#16: Improved predictions of Sail Aerodynamics

Allocated

CFD has displaced wind tunnel testing as the method for predicting sail performance. For simplicity, most CFD models of sails do not include the effects of the mast in the interests of computational efficency. However, this can lead to large errors in the lift and drag on the sails. In this study the effects of masts will be studied, and ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#17: Rig testing for faster upwind sailing [Preallocated]

Allocated

Most racing yachts have fractional rigs and this can cause the head of the mainsail to be separated since it is not operating in the downwash of a headsail. This project will test a modified rig that reduces this effect. The two sailing rigs will be tested at a range of apparent wind angles and compared in a velocity prediction ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#18: Improved prediction of Natural Convection

Allocated

Natural convection in an enclosed cavity is a basic problem in heat transfer, and has many applications in engineering and science. The existing correlations for date from the 1960s and are based on inaccurate CFD an limited experimental data. This project will develop new correlations for laminar and turbulent convection, through CFD modelling and a review of the modern literature ... Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

#19: Environment Effects on Solar Thermal Panels

Allocated

A transpired solar collector is a method of providing hot air for ventilation or drying by heating air on a porous plate. Commonly accepted theory has that their heat transfer coefficent increases with wind, but experimental data contradicts this. This project will use a careful series of CFD models to improve existing correlations for the devices in still air, and ... Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

#20: [Industry Sponsored] Measuring the acoustic properties of wall absorbers after they have been installed in a room

Allocated

Knowing the acoustic properties of wall materials is important when you’re designing special acoustic spaces like music studios, concert halls, classrooms and offices. It’s also important when designing virtual acoustic environments to use in gaming engines. Our perception of sound in both real and virtual spaces relies heavily on knowing the sound absorption of these wall materials. It is usually ... Read more

Acoustics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#21: Sound pressure level measurement using KONOS digital shotgun microphone

Unallocated

This project will focus on extending the capability of Dotterel Technologies’ KONOS microphone (https://www.konos-sound.com/). KONOS is a digital shotgun microphone consisting of 80 MEMS (Microelectromechanical system) elements with a digital signal processing technique that create narrow directivity beams which emphasise sound coming from one side of the microphone while rejecting noise arriving from other directions. KONOS is currently used ... Read more

Acoustics

Mechatronics Engineering

#22: Identifying inequity for non-native listeners in our learning spaces

Unallocated

Have you ever struggled to understand lecturer’s speech in a class? Yes, then what if you were studying in a language that is NOT your first language? (e.g. you are studying at UoA and English is not your first language OR you are studying overseas on exchange programme in non-English language) Acoustics of rooms such as background noise and reverberation ... Read more

Acoustics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#23: Real-time acoustic environment simulation to improve vocalist performance [Preallocated]

Allocated

While spatial audio has often focussed on simulating sound sources separated from the receiver, the field of study concerning real-time simulation of self-generated sound (eg. the voice) in virtual acoustic environments is limited. This project will involve reproducing the system architecture of one such study (Arend et al., 2014) and evaluating its use as a practice tool for vocalists. This ... Read more

Acoustics

Mechatronics Engineering

#24: IOT based optimal variable control for maximisation of hydroponic plant harvest [Preallocated]

Allocated

Hydroponic plant farming differs from its counterparts in that it utilises nutrient dense fluid as a growing median as opposed to soil. In recent years, climate change has risen to the forefront of global issues, causing drought, floods and irregular weather patterns, all of which threaten humankind’s access to arable land, and hence its ability to sustain itself. In ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#25: Remote Anomaly Detection for IoT-based Health Condition Monitoring of Industrial Robots

Allocated

Anomaly detection for health state identification of industrial robots is a process of identifying data patterns that differ significantly from the normal ones (i.e., healthy states). Early detection of anomalies can allow for predictive maintenance and prevent catastrophic failures resulting in system downtime from occurring. While anomaly detection finds its basis in analysing data to find patterns, many robot ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#26: Development of a treadmill based test rig for analysis and validation of legged robots

Allocated

Human-centered robots such as prostheses, exoskeletons and humanoids, are becoming increasingly relevant worldwide. However, a consolidated benchmarking methodology for locomotive robotics is yet to be achieved. The main project objective is to realize a flexible and adjustable general purpose testbed system for mobile robot locomotion, in particular legged humanoids. The device will be designed and built according to specification ... Read more

Biomechatronics Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#27: Remote Gantry Controller for Tele-Medicine Applications

Allocated

Researchers are making swift moves to compensate for the social distancing necessary to keep both the patients and clinicians safe in the post COVID-19 era. Since ophthalmology is a specialisation that requires close proximity to patients to conduct examinations, it poses serious health risks for patients and the specialists alike. Telemedicine, aided by advances in robotics and artificial intelligence ... Read more

Biomechatronics Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#28: Design, build & fly of a fixed wing UAV in the boundary layer wind tunnel [Preallocated]

Allocated

Current testing of fixed-wing aircraft relies on static mounting of airframes within the wind tunnel. However, this methodology overestimates the turbulent loads on the airframe, so an alternative methodology is required. By flying the fixed-wing aircraft within the wind tunnel, a better understanding of how the aircraft responds to the flow conditions in a more realistic, unconstrained environment can be ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#29: Variable Pitch Propellers for Highly-Agile Drones

Allocated

When flying a multirotor drone near objects such as trees or powerlines, agility is key. Overactuated drones are unconventional designs with propellers tilted in different directions, and so can generate thrust in all axes, allowing the aircraft to respond more rapidly to a control input than a conventional design. However, with fixed-pitch propellers, the inertia of the motor-propeller combination limits ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#30: Manufacture of Small Structural Components using Waste Steam CFRP as a Sheet Moulding Compound [Preallocated]

Allocated

Small components, which often require post-machining to achieve net shape, provide an excellent opportunity to utilise waste stream pre-impregnated carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy materials. The concept of sheet moulding compounds has existed for a long time now. However, these are typically manufactured using virgin fibres and a specialist resin. This project will investigate the feasibility of utilising waste-stream prepreg offcuts (created ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechatronics Engineering

#31: Flying Met Station

Allocated

Wind measurements typically depend on sensors mounted on masts. While a practical solution in an easily-accessible field, in a mountainaous environment installation is difficult, costly, and often not where desired. Unfortunately, mountainous regions are often those of interest, due to the terrain-induced flows. Drones provide a means of accessing difficult-to-reach places at low cost, requiring no fixed infrastructure, while being ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#32: Manufacture of laser induced graphene electronic sensors from seaweed

Allocated

The use of small electronic devices is now ubiquitous, with new applications being investigated continually. The increased use and range of applications presents issues with regards to sustainability, as the use of multiple materials makes recycling challengin, if not impossible. This is likely to be exacerbated by the growth in the use of devices, particularly in disposable applications such as ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Smart Materials and Microtechnologies

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#33: Design and build of powder characterisation apparatus for powder bed 3D printing [Preallocated]

Allocated

Powder bed 3D printing, in particular using an inkjet printed binder, is of significant interest due to the ability to 3D print at relatively high speed to a high resolution and with controllable material properties. In particular, there is interest in developing new ink and powder material systems that could significantly expand the range of applications that the technique could ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#34: Extrusion 3D Printing with Aqueous Two Phase Systems

Allocated

3D Printing is now a widespread technology that presents significant opportunites with regards to design freedom. Extrusion 3D printing, the most common form, is limited by both the extrusion process and the abiility for the extruded material to hold its shape. This limits the materials that can be used primarily to thermoplastics, where it would be beneficial if other materials ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#35: Manufacture of Biodegradable Superhydrophobic Coatings

Allocated

Superhydrophobicity, the ability to repel water from a surface, is commonly observed in nature. Examples of this include the lotus leaf and the taro leaf, where rain droplets immediately roll off the surface upon contact rather than wetting the leaf. The superhydrophobic property is produced by a combination a low surface energy materials (much like teflon in a non-stick pan) ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Smart Materials and Microtechnologies

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#36: Improving Control Allocation for Over-actuated Multirotor UAVs [Preallocated]

Allocated

Drone control allocation seeks to convert virtual signals for forces and torques into actuator commands, such that the forces and torques generated on the drone body closely follow the requested signals. The conventional control allocation approach is a static mixing matrix that assumes no actuator saturation or aerodynamic effects, which introduces errors - causing performance degradation. Developing an improved scheme ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#37: Drones Based Inspection of Powerlines [Preallocated]

Allocated

Over recent years, drone technology has been improving and drones are being used in an increased number of applications. There are many industry-related processes that can be made safer, cheaper, or more environmentally friendly through the use of drones. The project proposed is to study the dynamics and control systems of drones when certain constraints are applied. This will be ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#38: Enhancing classical control laws with reinforcement learning [Preallocated]

Allocated

In this project the students will work on enhancing classical control laws exploiting refinformenct learning. Most control laws require the tuning of some parameters, like the matrices in an LQR control or weights in a Lyapunov function. In this project we will exploit reinforcement learning to make these parameters state-dependent with the objective to improve the performance of the control. ... Read more

Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#39: [Industry Sponsored] IoT device for automatic farm gate detection [Preallocated]

Allocated

This project is intended to explore the possibility of using a simple internet of things (IoT) device for the automatic detection of farm gates. The device is intended to be cheap and versatile, able to be mounted on a wide array of gates or other angle-sensitive applications. The device will measure the angle of a gate using onboard sensors, ... Read more

Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#40: [Industry Sponsored] Smart, low-cost, real-time process performance monitoring system using edge computing [Preallocated] [Available to 1 Student]

Allocated

Digitalisation in manufacturing and Industry 4.0 offers excellent opportunities to increase insight into production processes and improve productivity. One of the first steps towards digitalisation in manufacturing and Industry 4.0 is usually the digital acquisition of data in production. These can be, for example, process data such as counting the produced parts, temperatures, speeds or pressures. These data for ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#41: [Industry Sponsored] Smart control and data analytics for a quality inspection system at ABB

Allocated

ABB is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. In Napier, ABB produces some of their high-tech products. One of the products is assembled in a chassis slightly bigger than a PC chassis. Actually, there is no systematic quality inspection of the raw material in terms ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems

Mechatronics Engineering

#42: [Industry Sponsored] Smart process monitoring system for Digital Manufacturing Light

Allocated

The New Zealand economy is dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and unfortunately average productivity is low by international standards. Many manufacturing SMEs have great potential to improve their productivity through IT technologies. A first important step in digital manufacturing is continuous process monitoring. Ideally the process monitoring system sends an alarm in case of abnormal process conditions. ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems

Mechatronics Engineering

#43: [Confidential] Design and Development of a Smart Sensor for Detecting Sewer Flow Conditions

Allocated

Sanitary and stormwater sewers are buried assets that play essential roles in preventing diseases and reducing health risks for our societies. Due to their hidden nature, these assets are not frequently assessed and maintained to optimal conditions. The lack of maintenance can cause sewer blockages and overflows that release pathogens into the environment. For metropolises like the City of Auckland, ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#44: Electrical power generation using triboelectric generator

Allocated

Electricity is mainly generated with the use of an electromagnetic generator. The electromagnetic generator has the advantage of producing high currents. However, the current and the voltage generated using an electromagnetic generator are proportional to the speed of turning the armature. A triboelectric generator can produce high output voltage but low current. It is very light in comparison to an ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Smart Materials and Microtechnologies

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#45: A Smart Biomimetic Oral Cavity for In Vitro Robotic Chewing Simulations [Preallocated]

Allocated

2023 New - Assessing the food texture via mastication is important for advancing knowledge of food properties so as to develop favourable and healthy food products. Oral processing of food by robots can enable an in vitro assessment of food texture by simulating human mastication objectively. With external funding, we have developed a chewing robot that can mimic the rhythmic ... Read more

Biomechatronics Medical Devices

Mechatronics Engineering

#46: Drone Airframe Optimisation

Allocated

2023 New - The Drone Technology Research Group is developing over-actuated drones with superior agility to perform physical interaction tasks. These tasks dictate particular design requirements such as flight time and horizontal thrust. The project will explore Genetic Algorithms and potentially other methods to optimise agility while subject to the design requirements by changing airframe geometry and components (motors, propellors, ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#47: Robotic Motorway Barriers - An Autonomous, Reconfigurable and Self-docking Solution

Allocated

2023 New - One of the main reasons of highway congestion is the unbalanced flows between the traffic travelling inbound and outbound. In Aotearoa, the application of dynamic highway (motorway) can be seen at the harbour bridge during the rush hours. However, these hinged barriers are manoeuvred manually by a driver with a $1.4 million purposefully built vehicle. At this ... Read more

Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#48: Tidal energy for powering marine farms

Allocated

Marine farming of aquaculture is one of the fastest growing industries in New Zealand and requires a resilient supply of clean and cheap electrical energy. Tidal energy conversion has great potential for supplying New Zealand’s current and future energy needs, including the marine farming industry, and provides an opportunity to grow New Zealand’s economy. Previously, there have been attempts to ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics Design/Systems Engineering Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#49: Underwater energy harvesting from ocean waves

Allocated

With the growing concerns regarding the relationship between energy generation using carbon-based fossil fuels and global warming, developing new effective means of energy generation becomes increasingly important. The average energy density of wave power is significantly greater than the average energy densities of both solar and wind collectively, which indicates a strong commercial potential of energy harvesting from sea waves. ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics Design/Systems Engineering Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#50: Acoustic black hole, does it really work as it sounds?

Unallocated

The Acoustic Black Hole (ABH) is a technique for vibration control that was recently developed for attenuating sound and vibration in various applications, including aero-space and automotive industries. For a given part or structure, the extraordinary effect is achieved by combining a local stiffness reduction, e.g. reduced structural thickness in a given area, and local increase in damping, provided by ... Read more

Acoustics Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics Design/Systems Engineering Dynamics and Control Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Smart Materials and Microtechnologies

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#51: High-static-low-dynamic-stiffness, a breakthrough solution in vibration isolation?

Unallocated

Passive, linear vibration isolation systems are widespread and used to separate equipment and structures from external or ground-borne excitation. The performance of linear isolators can be enhanced by incorporating nonlinear stiffness elements, which give a high static and yet low dynamic stiffness. High static stiffness implies relatively low static deflection of the system, while low dynamic stiffness gives low effective natural frequency ... Read more

Acoustics Design/Systems Engineering Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#52: Development of a low-cost tabletop system for hearing aid users

Allocated

While hearing aids help hearing impaired listeners amplify the sounds around them, they cannot restore their hearing to that of a normal hearing person. Reverberation and background noises in our surrounding acoustic environments in particular is greatly detrimental to hearing aids users, affecting how well they can understand speech and thus hindering communication. Even something as simple as talking at ... Read more

Acoustics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#53: Language learning tool based on speech acoustics

Allocated

Learning a second language is no easy feat, especially if you want to sound like a native speaker. Most language aids (think Duolingo) use speech recognition systems to evaluate the users’ pronunciation but that is often not very accurate, not to mention unintuitive for the learner. This project will use speech acoustics and visualisation to help learners acquire better pronunciation ... Read more

Acoustics

Mechatronics Engineering

#54: The application of acoustic metamaterials in a silent open window

Unallocated

Acoustic metamaterials have bought us things such as sonic black holes and negative dynamic stiffness and these engineered materials have many potential applications in mechanical engineering. One application is the ability to manipulate sound waves through guiding, reflection, and absorption. You have probably heard or experienced the growing issue of mould in housing, in part because of inadequate ventilation in ... Read more

Acoustics Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#55: Multi debris removal tour design [Preallocated]

Allocated

Thsi project aims at developing optimization techniques for the removal of multiple space debris from orbit in a controlled way. The project will use a tool for designing transfer legs between a re-entry vehicle and the space debris and develop a dedicated global optimization approach to remove from orbit the maximum number of space debris within a pool of candidate ... Read more

Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#56: The application of neural networks to acoustic metamaterial Helmholtz resonators [Preallocated]

Allocated

Light timber framing construction is traditional in NZ but where it is used for inter-tenancy walls in medium and high-density housing we are finding that transmission of noise between dwellings has become a major problem. Particularly irritating intrusion occurs at low frequencies, below 500Hz. Sound within this frequency range is often found at home (e.g. bass beat from music systems) ... Read more

Acoustics Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#57: Parametric Studies to Enhance Performance of a Novel Continuous Fibre Composites 3D Printer [Preallocated]

Allocated

Additive Manufacturing techniques continue to advance, providing excellent flexibility in design, while potentially reducing manufacturing costs for low to medium number production runs. While many composites manufacturing are inherently additive, significant recent effort has been placed on the development of impregnated fibre tow or tape deposition methods (e.g. Automatic Tape Placement (ATP) and Automated Fibre Placement (FRP)). Methods that can ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#58: Lightweight protection for vehicle-side inductive charging pads [Preallocated]

Allocated

This project will explore the implementation of advanced composite structures for the protection of vehicle-side inductive charging pads. Inductive Power Transfer enables the direct transfer of energy to an electric vehicle wireless. This requires the implementation of a 'secondary pad' on the vehicle, which receives the energy via a magnetic field. These pads need to be lightweight to reduce parasitic ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#59: [Industry Sponsored] Development of a portable, cost-effective and automated quality inspection system at ABB

Allocated

ABB is a leading global technology company that aims to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. In Napier, ABB produces some of their high-tech products. One of the products is assembled in a chassis slightly bigger than a PC chassis. There is no systematic quality inspection of the raw material for chassis production. The chassis typically has a ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#60: Cost-effective Job-tracking for Smart Manufacturing

Unallocated

Job tracking tools or systems are for manufacturers to track jobs/orders to the operational and activity level. Job tracking systems usually generate a bar-coded traveler document (route sheet). When employees start and stop jobs, they scan the document and enter the quantities of material good and scrap. Typically, data collection devices can be programmed to accept barcoded, key-entered, or ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#61: [Confidential] Integrated biosystems for biopsy sampling and analysis

Unallocated

The ability to sample cancerous ductal epithelium may identify early malignant and pre-malignant cytological changes and assist surgical excision, facilitating diagnosis of non-palpable cancer before detection on current imaging modalities. Most pre-malignant and malignant changes arise from the epithelium lining the lobular duct unit, and access to this region by integrated biosystems with spectroscopy techniques can revolutionise cancer diagnosis and ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Medical Devices

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#62: Evaluating the effect of polymer coatings on corrosion resistance for SLM 3D printed parts exposed to marine & aerospace environments [Preallocated]

Allocated

Motivation: 3D printing allows us to create intricate geometries which have high potential for light weighting and part consolidation within high performance engineering applications. In particular, the aerospace industry has leveraged the technique to create many advanced custom parts. Of interest is the longevity and durability of these parts in situations such as re-entry which can expose equipment to environmental ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#63: [Confidential] IoT enabled Equitable Smart and healthier homes for Aotearoa New Zealand

Unallocated

People who live in unhealthy homes are more likely to have to make trade-offs between housing costs and decent food, heating, health services and other necessities of life. Those affected due to unhealthy homes, including children, are often hospitalised and treated but return home to the same conditions that caused the illness. The most vulnerable people, particularly children and older ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Medical Devices

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#64: Aerodynamics and aeroacoustics of Maori spinning instruments

Unallocated

The Purerehua is a Maori instrument which is very similar to the "bullroarer" found in other cultures. Noise is generated by a spinning slat which is tied to a long string which is swung in a roughly circular path by the user. The porotiti is another Maori instrument which is spun on twin chords to create a humming sound. The unsteady ... Read more

Acoustics Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#65: Gravity off-loading system for a multi-element deployable spacecraft structures

Allocated

Ground testing of a deployment sequence for a structure designed to operate in space requires a system to compensate for the gravity, and reproduce a weightless condition. There is a variety of methodologies that can be implement, and in most cases the test set ups can only partially reproduce weightless conditions of the moving parts of the system. The level ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#66: Paddle hydrodynamics

Allocated

In this project you will develop an experimental rig for measuring the forces exerted on a model paddle/oar whilst moving through water. You will then use this rig to assess how these forces change for different paddle shapes, depths, and acceleration rates. Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#67: Reliable artificial rain generation

Allocated

In this project you will assess different nozzle shapes for generating consistent droplets for simulating artificial rain. Such nozzles are required for tests to assess the noise produced by rainfall on a roof. You will design and manufacture several different nozzles based on designs from the literature and from an industrial collaborator. You will then assess these to determine the ... Read more

Acoustics Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#68: Damping mechanism for passive deployable spacecraft structures

Allocated

For deployable spacecraft structures, reliability is a fundamental requirement, and for one-shot devices, passive motorization systems offer significant advantages. In these systems, energy is usually stored as potential energy of elastic elements, and during the deployment this is transformed into kinetic energy of the moving parts. At the end of the deployment, stopping the moving parts could produce a significant ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#69: Thermal Performance of a Small-scale Fast-charging IPT System for Electric Vehicles [Preallocated]

Allocated

As medium to heavy duty electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly common, wireless charging (extreme fast charging, charging on the move) provides an opportunity to reduce battery mass, range anxiety, and greenhouse gas emissions. The Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacturing and Design (CAMMD) is a major partner in a large multidisciplinary team that has secured significant government funding, led by ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

#70: Ground boards for outdoor noise measurement

Unallocated

In this project you will use an experimental rig previously developed by another final year project, and a postgraduate project, to measure noise outside using a microphone mounted on a ground board. Ground board mounted microphones are often used for outdoor noise measurements to try and reduce the influence of ground reflections. However, recent work has shown that different ground ... Read more

Acoustics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#71: Making an impact: next-generation metamaterials for robots and intelligent structures.

Allocated

Metamaterials are a 21st century innovation that provide material behaviours previously thought impossible, such as negative dynamic stiffness or density, negative Poisson's ratio, solids that act like fluids, vibroacoustic invisibility, sonic black holes, and equation solving among many others. Metamaterials derive their effective properties from their internal structure rather than from their chemical composition, blurring conventional distinctions between material, structure ... Read more

Acoustics Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Smart Materials and Microtechnologies

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#72: Designing polymer blends for high impact strength

Allocated

Polymer blends are mixtures of two or more polymers that exhibit unique physical and chemical properties compared to the individual components. The technical importance of polymer blends lies in their ability to combine the desirable attributes of different polymers, resulting in materials with improved toughness, strength, thermal stability, and cost-effectiveness. Polymer blends are widely used in various industries such as ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#73: Producing high performance polyester tapes

Allocated

Strapping tapes are used to fix, or tie finished industrial products, individual cardboards or goods on pallets. These are often made from either polypropylene or polyester (PET) and characterized by their high strength. New Zealand is putting a lot of emphasis of keeping plastics in circulation, reducing the amount of plastics that go to landfill. Many plastic products other than ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#74: The visibility of cyclists

Allocated

In this project, we will use Mechanical Engineering's motion capture lab to record human movement, specifically, cycling. Using these recordings, we will investigate and model the visibility of a cyclist from various viewpoints, including viewpoints from which motorists typically see cyclists on the road. A little background: The human visual system is highly sensitive to the presence of other ... Read more

Biomechatronics Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#75: Are two fingers better than one? Using 3D printing to understand the neural mechanisms of touch

Allocated

This is a biomechatronics project. You'll use 3D printing to better understand how the human nervous system works.Some background: It's well known that two eyes are better than one; experiments in visual perception show that monocular visual sensitivity (eg., your ability to see a dim star in the night sky when one eye is covered) is increased by a factor ... Read more

Biomechatronics Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#76: Enhancing Bond Strength using Additive Manufacturing; Design Optimisation of Selective Laser Melting 3D Printed Surface Topologies

Allocated

A hybrid component takes advantage of multiple material systems, which are bonded together to fulfil the functional requirements of the part. Examples include carbon fibre reinforced plastics bonded to metal or polymer substrates, or decorative elements bonded onto structural substrates. Where an adhesive is used to bond a secondary element (or adherent) onto a substrate component, production of that substrate ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#77: Manufacture of Carbon Fibre Thermoplastic Composites, Utilising Waste Plastic Blends

Allocated

High-performance composites have been traditionally formed from carbon fibres reinforcing a thermoset polymer (typically epoxy), while the development of fibre reinforced thermoplastics has been the focus of significant research over the past 20 years. Thermoplastic composites possess several advantages over the more traditional reinforced thermosets, being reformable, weldable, and more easily recycled. New Zealand’s size and distributed population base restricts ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#78: [Industry Sponsored] An integrated energy harvester for powering wireless vibration sensors

Allocated

Agen Limited is a lead Industry IoT remote monitoring solution provider and manufactures wireless vibration sensors for machine condition monitoring applications. Data collected by these IoT sensors is automatically uploaded to Agen’s cloud-based software, allowing for sensor configuration, data visualisation and analysis on a browser interface. The sensor is powered by a non-rechargeable battery, and its wireless technology is 2.4GHz ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechatronics Engineering

#79: Vibration-based rail structure condition monitoring

Allocated

Imagine that you are in a team for rail track maintenance, and your duty is to inspect the health condition of rail structures to ensure the safe operation of trains. The traditional method that regularly check the condition track-by-track with instruments is labour-intensive. Vibrations are generated when the train vehicle passing a track and the damage of the track ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#80: Origami and its application for energy harvesting

Unallocated

Origami, a traditional paper-folding art, has recently inspired designs for various engineering applications such as deploying mechanisms, energy harvesting and vibration isolation. Due to the nonlinear stiffness during the deformation, an origami structure can achieve intriguing dynamic behavior that is not observed with a linear structure. This project will focus on the design of origamis and utilize them as ... Read more

Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering

#81: Wearable energy harvesting

Allocated

Imagine that your phone runs out of power when you are outdoors and you forget bringing your power bank! You will never have this trouble if you could generate power by yourself when jogging or hiking. This project is a continuing project, aiming to improve the existing design of a wearable energy harvesting system that could harness kinetic energy during ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#82: 299 Motor Optimization and Development

Allocated

299 Workshop Practice, was redesigned in 2021 to have every participating student build a brushless DC electric motor that runs off a pack of four AA batteries. The instructors would like to shift from batteries to USB-C power input but, to do so, the motor design must be adjusted to be made more efficient. A 2022 P4P significantly improved ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#83: Biodegradable paper based electrode array for pressure sensor

Unallocated

Flexible pressure sensors that detect deformation through an electrical resistance have attracted significant attention because of their potential as electronic skin, healthcare monitoring and human-machine interfaces. The main components of these sensors are electrodes and sensing layers. These electrodes can be made of small electrode arrays that enable greater area selectivity and reliability; however existing electrode arrays are based on ... Read more

Smart Materials and Microtechnologies

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#84: Thermal measurements for reusable space launch systems

Allocated

Partially reusable commercial launch systems, such as those currently deployed by SpaceX and Rocket Lab, have shown the potential to reduce costs and environmental impact of space launches. One of the ongoing challenges is to safely recover suborbital rocket stages after re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. Aerodynamic heating of the stage can cause surface temperatures to exceed ... Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

#85: Space and Sustainable Development

Allocated

Using outer space for Earth observation has become a vehicle to manage terrestrial sustainability. Satellite use reduces the need for infrastructure on Earth and provides cost-effective options for increased global connectivity and accurate monitoring services. The derived data is becoming increasingly important for managing natural resources, informing industries like the agricultural sector in the face of climate-related challenges, and monitoring ... Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#86: Investigation of Trees as sound scatterers - is there potential to design tree planting patterns as meta-material, band-gap noise barriers?

Allocated

Urban forests and banks of trees have attracted increasing attention as an essential component of cities, not only for the benefits they offer to residents’ mental health and recreation by ‘greening’ our living environment but also by serving to reduce traffic vibrations and noise. In this case it is particularly important that they should attenuate low frequency sound and ... Read more

Acoustics Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#87: The Development of a Calibratable impactor which can deliver impacts both vertically and horizontally.

Unallocated

This project constitutes part of our research towards reducing noise disturbance for occupiers of flats and townhouses. The main problem for them is not external noise but noise caused by the day-to-day activities of neighbours that the building transmits between occupancies. The source of increasing numbers of complaints is the sound resulting from impacts on, or involving, floors and walls ... Read more

Acoustics Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#88: The Hot Chocolate Effect – changing the speed of sound with bubbles?

Unallocated

What became known as the Hot Chocolate Effect was the result of a US physicist, Frank Crawford in 1982, noticing a pitch change in the sound of his spoon hitting the bottom of a mug of newly-made drinking chocolate. There have been a couple of papers describing the phenomenon but it does not appear to be widely known. Crawford’s analysis ... Read more

Acoustics Dynamics and Control

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#89: [CDP-CEE] Decoding attributes of a successful engineer

Allocated

Cross-departmental project, co-supervised by Dr Charlotte Toma (Civil & Environmental Engineering) What is an engineer? What do they do? What do they look like, sound like? The nature of engineering challenges, the required skills, and accessibility to an engineering education have evolved over centuries. Looking forward, our world faces an era-scale change from the climate emergency and biodiversity crises, which ... Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#90: Manufacture and performance evaluation of bio-composite panels

Unallocated

Sustainability is important, with concern for and well-being of the environment central to all human endeavour. In this regard, the Mechanics of Materials Laboratory at Newmarket Campus is involved in, among other things, research and development in the broad area of composites made with natural materials (Reference 1). Such composites are suited for and find use in a host of ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#91: Yacht aerodynamics using CFD modelling and wind-tunnel experiments [Preallocated]

Allocated

This project will use modern computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software (e.g. Ansys CFX) to analyse the aerodynamic performance of older generation yachts (J-class or IACC v) in upwind conditions. Wind-tunnel experiments will be performed to validate the CFD results, using the Newmarket boundary layer wind tunnel. A model yacht/sail will need to be manufactured. Data will be inputted into Gomboc ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#92: Turbulent water flow over porous riverbeds using CFD

Unallocated

Te Waipounamu, the South Island of New Zealand, contains many braided rivers where the riverbed is often coarse gravel and pebbles. The riverbed is therefore a porous media, which enables the water to penetrate through the spaces between individual solid grains. Furthermore, the mean speed and dynamics of the turbulent river flowing above is affected by the porous media. Understanding ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#93: The fluid mechanics of bottle emptying

Allocated

Upending a bottle of water (or your favourite carbonated beverage) results in a complex fluid mechanics display, as air enters the bottle and the liquid fights to escape. This scenario also has relevance to engineering, for example in emptying a vat of liquid, or for cleaning out soda bottles during manufacturing or for re-use. A natural question is then: how ... Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#94: Turbulent fluid flow over flexible vegetation

Allocated

When the wind passes over grass, trees and other vegetation, we see a complex and beautiful display as the vegetation moves in response to the wind. This occurs because the vegetation is not perfectly rigid but inherently flexible. A similar process occurs with water flowing over aquatic vegetation like seagrass and kelp. In both cases, not only does the fluid flow ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#95: Manufacturing and Characterisation of Fire-retardant and Sustainable Composite Panels based on Wood Fibres and Casein

Unallocated

Recently, eco-friendly and innovative approaches have been implemented to design and develop novel and sustainable flame-retardant composite materials. Extensive research activities have shown potential of natural-based materials, such as wool, chitosan and gluten, as an alternative flame retardant (FR). In particular, phosphorus containing protein-based materials have been employed as an intumescent FR to reduce flammability of composites. Casein, as one ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#96: Novel Sustainable Building Interiors; Multifunctional Performance of Wool Fibre based Composites containing Bio-based Flame Retardants

Unallocated

Non-woven fabric panels based on thermoplastic polymers, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), have been employed as acoustic interior products due to remarkable thermal and sound insulation properties. However, highly flammable nature of the synthetic polymers has limited their expansion in commercial applications having stringent fire regulations. Moreover, the synthetic materials have adverse impacts on environment because of their non-degradability and ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#97: Using high voltage DC plasmas to modify polymer blends suitable for high impact strength

Allocated

Plastic products are regularly exposed to high impact loading requiring them to be tailored for these conditions. One way of improving the impact resistance of e.g. PLA is to blend it with a rubbery polymer such as polycaprolactone (PCL). If done correctly, the rubbery dispersion of PCL dramatically increases the impact strength of PLA. Most polymers are highly immiscible and ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#98: Ultra-Low profile Reaction Wheel Assembly [Preallocated]

Allocated

Reaction Wheels are a type of actuator typically used to control the attitude and pointing of satellite platforms. As for all satellite equipment the minimization of mass and volume is of paramount importance. The aim of this project is to further develop a very thin reaction wheel assembly, to enable the integration of these actuators in a nanosatellite or CubeSat ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#99: Localisation and Position Control for a Mobile Robot Remote Lab

Allocated

Remote labs, where students control real lab hardware remotely, offer a great deal of flexibility and resilience in the current educational setting. Remote control of stationary and tethered hardware is easy. However, controlling an untethered mobile robot is much more challenging. This project builds on the work we have done in developing a remote lab for the VEX mobile robots ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#100: Battery Charging Solution for a Mobile Robot in a Remote Lab

Unallocated

Remote labs, where students control real lab hardware remotely, offer a great deal of flexibility and resilience in the current educational setting. Remote control of stationary and tethered hardware is easy. However, controlling an untethered mobile robot is much more challenging. This project builds on the work we have done in developing a remote lab for the VEX mobile robots ... Read more

Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#101: Are Remote 'Hands-on' Labs as Good as In-person Labs?

Unallocated

A recent trend in tertiary education is to switch to online delivery. However, engineering is a hands-on degree. So, can remote 'hands-on' labs, where students control real laboratory hardware remotely, be a replacement to attending in-person labs? This project will investigate this question by developing and testing remote labs against in-person labs. This project builds on previous work (hardware and ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#102: Urban wind flow modelling

Allocated

Urban wind flow modelling is of interest from multiple perspectives, including wind loading, wind induced ventilation, pollutant transport, pedestrian level winds, and most recently unmanned aerial veicles. This project will utilise either or both of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling and wind tunnel model-scale experiments to study the urban wind environment, at high spatial and temporal resolution. World class in-house ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#103: Intuitive and Dexterous Teleoperation of Mobile Robotic Manipulation Platform

Allocated

This project will focus on dexterous robotic telemanipulation of a mobile bimanual manipulation platform in search and rescue and disaster scenarios. Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#104: [Industry sponsored][Confidential] Fully-automated hydraulic hose-making solution

Allocated

This is BOA Hydraulics (https://boahydraulics.com/), a true global disruptor from New Zealand. Current hydraulic hose making process is a manual process that involves: 1. Measure and cut hose at the correct length 2. Select and push on correct hose fitting 3. Crimp the connection at the right position Our industry partner, BOA Hydraulics (https://boahydraulics.com/), is ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Mechatronics Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#105: Safe human-robot collaboration via active collision avoidance

Allocated

We have been amazed by the mind-blowing robots from Boston Dynamics. However, behind those futuristic robot videos, open challenges exist in autonomous sensing, reasoning, and trajectory planning of autonomous robots, in particular when working in close distance with humans. In our team, we took the initiative of creating a smart collaborative robot that can actively work together with humans to ... Read more

Dynamics and Control Robotics

Mechatronics Engineering

#106: Wet spinning of highly conductive carbon fibres

Allocated

Sustainability is extremely important, with concern for and well-being of the environment central to all human endeavour. In this regard, the Mechanics of Materials Laboratory at the Newmarket Campus is involved in, among other things, research, and development in the broad area of composites made with natural materials. Such composites are suited for and find use in a host ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#107: Stretchable and flexible biocarbon-based strain sensor for human motion monitoring or robotic applications

Allocated

Sustainability is extremely important, with concern for and well-being of the environment central to all human endeavour. In this regard, the Mechanics of Materials Laboratory at the Newmarket Campus is involved in, among other things, research, and development in the broad area of composites made with natural materials. Such composites are suited for and find use in a host ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#108: 3D printing of waste plastic-based polymer composites

Allocated

Sustainability is extremely important, with concern for and well-being of the environment central to all human endeavour. In this regard, the Mechanics of Materials Laboratory at the Newmarket Campus is involved in, among other things, research, and development in the broad area of composites made with natural materials. Such composites are suited for and find use in a host ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#109: 3D printing of a polymer blend for robotic applications

Allocated

Sustainability is extremely important, with concern for and well-being of the environment central to all human endeavour. In this regard, the Mechanics of Materials Laboratory at the Newmarket Campus is involved in, among other things, research, and development in the broad area of composites made with natural materials. Such composites are suited for and find use in a host ... Read more

Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Mechanical Engineering

#110: Detecting sleep apnea in clinical EEG recordings

Allocated

Sleep apnea (SA) is a common disorder involving the cessation of breathing during sleep. It can cause daytime hypersomnia, accidents, and, if allowed to progress, serious, chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease. Continuous positive airway pressure is an effective SA treatment. However, long waitlists impede timely diagnosis; overnight sleep studies involve well trained sleep physiologists scoring a polysomnograph (PSG). A PSG ... Read more

Biomechatronics Medical Devices

Mechatronics Engineering

#111: [Confidential] Smart Tension Indicator

Allocated

Background The material is steel. Under tension, steel deforms. In an engineering project, e.g. building, there is a need to know how much tension a steel component is under when installed in place, e.g. a bolt in a steel frame of a building. Goal of the project A practical method/tool to measure the amount ... Read more

Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing Systems

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#112: Extreme winds and wind loads on NZ buildings from extra tropical cyclones

Unallocated

Climate change is already generating extreme weather events for NZ. Tropical cyclone Gabrielle is currently bearing down on NZ (as of 13 Feb 2023) with severe gales expected for Northland and Auckland. Is our housing stock, urban buildings and the infrastructure designed to withstand such severe winds? This project will carry out analayses to answer this question, through new analysis ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#113: Gust response of small fixed wing UAVs

Allocated

This project will utilise our wind tunnel and associated instrumentation, together with techniques developed here over the last decade to carry out studies on the gust response of a small fixed wing UAV. Several gust generation methods are available, together with UAV platforms for this study. This project is a part of a programme that will develop UAV systems for ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#114: Collision of vortex rings with curved surfaces and implications for flow control and / or heat transfer

Unallocated

Experimental and / or CFD project that will generate discrete and a train of vortex rings utising existing methods to investigate the fluid dyamics of their collision with bodies / surfaces. Please email r.sharma@auckland.ac.nz for full details Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

#115: Performance of a small wind turbine under turbulent / gust flow conditions

Allocated

This continuing project will help develop a miniature gas turbine system (to be powered in the future using clean e.g. Hydrogen fuel) for potential use in applications ranging from portable devices to UAVs. Such systems, even with a 10% energy efficiency, could easily outlast the state of the art Li-ion batteries, for their high power and energy densities, and significantly ... Read more

Aero-Fluid-Hydrodynamics

Mechanical Engineering

#116: Developing design labs for Part II students

Allocated

This project will research and develop new labs to introduce Part II students (MECHENG 235 or MECHENG 236) to engineering design. The part 4 project (and the developed labs) will be suitable for either mechanical or mechatronics students. The part 4 project will involve: 1) initial review of literature on how design labs are done in some other universities (for ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#117: Automatically generating solution proposals for the Warman Design Project

Allocated

This project will develop a `system' for proposing design solutions to Warman Design Projects. You will analyse past Warman competition rules and develop a systematic way of summarising the main requirements from those rules (for example, does the device need to move in straight lines, does it need to move along curved paths, does it need sort items by weight, ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#118: Design guidance system for machine design projects

Allocated

This project will research and develop a system for guiding novice designers through hand calculation-based machine design projects (variants of the Window Washer design project you did in part II). The objective is to suggest which calculations should be done at each step, with consideration to the dependencies between the calculations and to avoiding unnecessary iterations. The project will build ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#119: Assessment and improvement of a method to create new designs by combining existing variants

Allocated

A method has been created at the University of Auckland to systematically create new product designs by combining CAD parts and features from existing variants. This task would normally require prior expertise about the products at hand. The method reduces the reliance on expertise by decomposing the task into a sequence of systematic steps based on modelling and analysing the ... Read more

Design/Systems Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

#120: Smart CO2 Reduction through Heat Recovery in the Cooling System

Allocated

In industrial cooling systems, a lot of heat is lost and transferred into air or the ocean. Recovering this heat energy and using it as process heat directly reduced the CO2 emission of the plant because this amount of heat does not need to be generated by burning gas or using electricity. This project uses the plant of NZ Sugar ... Read more

Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer

Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Engineering

Projects for 2023